Peter Mladinic is my patron saint of strays - stray dogs, stray people, stray memories which gain profound meaning in combination with things which would not be obvious to another, but allow Mladinic quiet epiphanies which stop inches before false resolution might be added. While there is happiness here, a profound melancholy also washes through many of these poems. There are old dogs finally out of options, nuns with their tender humanity masked by their habits, lovers finally lost to one another, but who might pick up the pieces with unconsidered possibilities of the past. There is also the guilt of the hero who can't, finally, save anyone, not even himself, but who still persists. Read these poems with an open heart and allow yourself the wonders Mladinic offers. He understands that any war is every war, and invites the reader to the uneasy peace that sometimes comes as we stumble our way through the broken minefields of our own long walk into night. ---Jeff Weddle, author of Driving the Lost Highway and winner of the Eudora Welty Prize. Maiden Rock by Peter Mladinic takes the reader inside a different perspective of the main character in each poem. It's not about one person, or one experience, but about the minds and lives of many. I appreciate that this prolific poet can transform his thoughts to channel the mind's eye of another soul. Peter Mladinic's strong empathy is clear in his words. To be in tune to so many points of view, just shows that we are all in some common place, just waiting for the next adventure in life. ---Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld, author of Caring for Souls; Manager, Prolific Pulse Press LLC.